RT (2019-11-14). \'DISLIKE\': Russia\'s Facebook rival VK to roll out this ONE button FB users always wanted but never got. rt.com Russian social network VKontakte has unveiled the upcoming \'dislike\' button, a simple feature that has been cruelly denied to Facebook users despite years of begging. Now Mark Zuckerberg can claim it was a Russian plot all along! | The feature was announced on Wednesday at VK\'s Content Day conference in Moscow, and the company thinks it will help \"invigorate\" the comment section. | VK has answered its users\' prayers with the button, which will appear as an option next to the \'like\' button on comments, giving users the ability to regi…

Associated Press (2019-11-13). Violent riots force Chinese and foreign students to flee Hong Kong. peoplesworld.org HONG KONG (AP)—University students from mainland China and Taiwan are fleeing Hong Kong, while those from three Scandinavian countries have been moved or urged to leave as college campuses become the latest battleground in the city\'s 5-month-long anti-government unrest. Marine police used a boat Wednesday to help a group of mainland students leave the Chinese …

RT (2019-11-13). Takeover of Venezuela\'s embassy in Brazil timed to coincide with launch of BRICS summit — Russia. rt.com The seizure of Venezuela\'s embassy in Brasilia was not only an attack on the legitimate government of Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, but also an attempt to sow discord between the BRICS member states, Russia\'s Deputy FM told RT. | The Wednesday storming on the diplomatic mission by the supporters of US-backed Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaido was \"planned before and timed that it coincided with the first day of BRICS summit,\" Sergey Ryabkov said. | It took place on the same day as the leaders of Russia, China, India and South Africa arrived to the Brazilian capital for the high-profile BRICS summit. Members…

RT (2019-11-13). Code Pink founder raided by DC police on dubious Venezuelan embassy \'assault\' charges (VIDEO). rt.com Police have tried to detain Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin without a warrant on belated and mysterious charges of \'assaulting\' a Democratic congresswoman during this summer\'s siege of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington. | Benjamin was accused of assaulting Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Florida) — months after the alleged incident — when over a dozen officers surrounded her home on Wednesday in Washington, DC. | In footage she posted to Facebook, Benjamin strenuously denies the accusations, explaining that she was the one assaulted — pushed and pulled by right-wing Venezuelans (\"b…

Nick Alexandrov (2019-11-13). Murder Like It\'s 1495: U.S.-Backed Counterinsurgency in the Philippines. counterpunch.org Two men, soldiers probably, noticed Bai Leah Tumbalang. This was last August. She was in Valencia City, in the Philippine province of Bukidnon. The men drew near on their motorcycle, followed her, then pulled up to shoot her in the forehead. She died immediately. But her death was not random, not senseless. With it her More

Brian Terrell (2019-11-13). A Doubtful Proposition: a Reflection on the Trial of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7. counterpunch.org \"Whether nuclear weapons are actually illegal under international or domestic law (a doubtful proposition) is not relevant or an appropriate issue to litigate in this case,\" so ruled Judge Lisa Godbey Wood of the US District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, late on Friday October 18. This last-minute order, restricting the defense of More

George Ochenski (2019-11-13). Montana\'s Radioactive Waste Legacy. counterpunch.org One label Montana\'s Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock won\'t have to worry about being stuck with is \"environmentalist.\" His outdated support for coal in the face of a global warming crisis and his \"leadership\" on the massive and ongoing deforestation of public lands under the phony rubric of the Bush-era \"Healthy Forests Initiative\" are bad enough. More

Charles Pierson (2019-11-13). How Not to End a Forever War. counterpunch.org I love \"caper\' movies. There\'s nothing like a gang of lovable rogues executing an elaborately planned, seemingly impossible crime. President Donald Trump, while in no way lovable, pulled off the perfect caper when he grabbed the White House three years ago. Now Trump has launched a new caper: stealing Syria\'s oil. Danny Ocean, eat your More

Kenneth Surin (2019-11-13). \"We\'ll See You on the Barricades\": Bojo Johnson\'s Poundshop Churchill Imitation. counterpunch.org Poundshop: British chain similar to the US\'s Dollar General I\'m in London for a week to inhale the UK election vapours. Some scents reeked of the cheap knock-off perfumes— labelled \"Chanel\", \"Dior\", etc.— you can buy in shonky street markets in many cities. Others though had more in common with a leaking sewer pipe. BoJo More

Nick Pemberton (2019-11-13). Assange, Zuckerberg and Free Speech. counterpunch.org \"That philosophy died yesterday, since Hegel or Marx, Nietzsche, or Heidegger—and philosophy should still wander toward the meaning of its death—or that it has always lived knowing itself to be dying… that philosophy died one day, within history, or that it has always fed on its own agony, on the violent way it opens history More

Vanessa Beeley (2019-11-13). ISIS Captives Offer a Convenient Pawn in Turkey\'s Syria Chess Game. mintpressnews.com ISIS is the latest bogeyman in a global terror portfolio that serves a neoconservative agenda in the Middle East, and Turkey has been its midwife and curator.

Ramzy Baroud (2019-11-13). The Real Reasons Behind Israel\'s Arrest of Two Jordanian Nationals. mintpressnews.com The release on November 6 of two Jordanian nationals, Heba al-Labadi and Abdul Rahman Mi\'ri from Israeli prisons was a bittersweet moment. The pair were finally reunited with their families after harrowing experiences in Israel. Sadly, thousands of Palestinian prisoners are still denied their freedom, still subjected to all sorts of hardships at the hands of their Israeli jailers. | Despite the jubilant return of the two prisoners, celebrated in Jordan, Palestine and throughout the Arab world, several compelling questions remain unanswered: why were they held in the first place? Why were they released and what ca…

Staff (2019-11-13). Cuba\'s Ingenious Lesson for Cities Facing Hunger. truthdig.com When countries run short of food, they need to find solutions fast, and one answer can be urban farming. | That was the remedy Cuba seized with both hands 30 years ago when it was confronted with the dilemma of an end to its vital food imports. And what worked then for Cuba could have lessons today for the wider world, as it faces growing hunger in the face of the climate crisis. | When the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, most of Cuba\'s food supplies went with it. To stave off severe malnutrition the people of the capital, Havana, found an imaginative answer: urban gardening. That\'s now seen as a possible bl…

Robert Hunziker (2019-11-13). Climate Confusion, Angst, and Sleeplessness. dissidentvoice.org Climate change is a nagging issue for many people because it is so big, diverse, and overwhelming, as big as the planet itself. So, how to explain climate change? Sociologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and even anthropologists and economists have tackled the phenomenon of Climate Weltschmerz, meaning people experience angst as the enormity of climate change overrides …

RT (2019-11-13). While Greta Thunberg hitches another top-dollar yacht ride to Europe, plebs will live with \'flight shame\'. rt.com Swedish eco-activist Greta Thunberg has managed to find a ride across the Atlantic with a pair of sailing YouTubers. Once again, the activist will make her journey on a yacht far beyond the means of the ordinary working Joe. | After hitching a ride from Europe to New York aboard a €4 million racing yacht in August, Thunberg embarked on a whirlwind tour of climate change summits and street-level protests. However, when the UN\'s COP25 climate summit in Chile was moved to Spain due to political unrest, the Swedish activist was left marooned in the US. | Avoiding combustion-powered planes and boats, Thunberg\'

RT (2019-11-13). US wants Turkey \'back in the fold\' as tensions mount between between NATO allies. rt.com The US wants to bring Turkey \"back into the fold,\" Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday as he warned again about Ankara drifting away from its NATO partners. | Washington is concerned that recent arms deals with Russia and its recent incursion into northern Syria mean Turkey is slipping away from the military bloc. Esper\'s comments came ahead of US President Donald Trump\'s meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Wednesday. | \"We need Turkey back in the fold. They\'ve been good allies for many years, all the way back to fighting alongside the United States in the Korean war, up t…

RT (2019-11-13). US & Turkey working on \'resolving S-400 issue,\' but Trump & Erdogan tight-lipped on details. rt.com US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan said their countries were working to \"resolve\" the issue of Ankara purchasing Russian S-400 air defense systems, without going into any specifics. | Erdogan, who arrived in Washington on Wednesday for an official state visit, spent much of the day in meetings with Trump and several US senators critical of Turkey\'s recent actions in northern Syria. Appearing at a joint press conference in the late afternoon, he showed no sign of backing down from Ankara\'s current posture, saying that political concerns ought to be separate from matters o…

Christina Larson, Emily Wang (2019-11-13). China creating \"its own Yellowstone\" park in Tibet to preserve ecosystem. peoplesworld.org XINING, China (AP)—There\'s a building boom on the Tibetan plateau, one of the world\'s last remote places. Mountains long crowned by garlands of fluttering prayer flags—a traditional landscape blessing—are newly topped with sprawling steel power lines. At night, the illuminated signs of Sinopec gas stations cast a red glow over newly built highways. Ringed by …

RT (2019-11-13). Anti-government rallies swell in Baghdad & south Iraq. rt.com Anti-government rallies swelled in Iraq\'s capital and south on Wednesday as Baghdad faced new pressure from both the street and the UN to respond seriously to weeks of demonstrations. | Protests demanding a new leadership have rocked the capital and Shiite-majority south for weeks. | Demonstrators appear to have been revived after the country\'s top Shiite religious authority Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani said they \"cannot go home without sufficient reforms.\" | The head of the UN\'s mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, planned to address the main political blocs and brief lawmakers on her meeting w…

Staff (2019-11-13). Facebook Says It Axed 3.2 Billion Fake Accounts in Last Six Months. truthdig.com The company also says it removed 18.5 million instances of child nudity and sexual exploitation, an increase from the previous six months.

RT (2019-11-13). Ancient aliens? NASA\'s Mars 2020 mission landing site could contain fossilized signs of life. rt.com The landing site selected for NASA\'s upcoming Mars 2020 rover could well be one of the best chances we have of discovering whether the Red Planet was once home to life and whether it could be again. | The 28-mile (45km) wide Jezero crater was selected as the landing site for the new rover in late 2018, and has been found to contain vast deposits of hydrated silica and minerals called carbonates, according to a newly published study. | Once the site of a lake more than 3.5 billion years ago, scientists now believe that Jezero, thanks…

RT (2019-11-13). Khabib: \'Sometimes I go easy on my opponents, I don\'t want to hurt them\' (VIDEO). rt.com UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the most dominant forces in the history of MMA, but has ominously suggested he has sometimes gone easy on his opponents to avoid doing even more damage. | Khabib stands 28-0 in professional MMA and has rarely looked troubled inside the cage. | But despite his dominance, the Dagestani grappling phenom has suggested that on occasion he has held back. | \"I had fights in my career where I understood that I could hurt my opponent more, but I\'d talk to him, tell him to give up so that I don\'t beat him too hard,\" Khabib told a group of schoolchildren in Russia.

RT (2019-11-13). Shooting NATO with its own bullet? What we know about Kalashnikov\'s new rifle, chambered in alliance-standard 7.62x51mm. rt.com As Russia marks famed Soviet inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov\'s centenary, we look at the newest incarnation of his time-tested rifle. The AK-308 fires NATO rounds, giving the Russian manufacturer an edge over western rivals. | Sitting along a lonely road near Russia\'s Kazakh border, the town of Kurya is a long way from the world\'s battlefields. The nearest major city, Novosibirsk, is a six-hour drive away. Yet, Kurya\'s most famous son devised an invention that would power revolutions, redraw national borders and reshape modern warfare. | Mikhail Kalashnikov was born in Kurya on November 10, 1919, to a peasant fam…

RT (2019-11-13). Child prison & death in a blaze: Mother commits suicide after kids she kept in lockup for 10 years escape. rt.com No school, no IDs and constant CCTV surveillance. Nobody in town knew that they existed. Three kids were locked up behind the fence of a private home for a decade, as their mother tried to protect them from the \'cruel world.\'

RT (2019-11-13). 'There's no denying it, he choked': Tennis world reacts as Daniil Medvedev throws away lead to hand Rafael Nadal ATP Finals win. rt.com Russian star Daniil Medvedev is facing an early exit from the ATP Finals in London after throwing away a decisive lead in the final set of his match with world number one Rafael Nadal, prompting fans to accuse him of \'choking\'.

RT (2019-11-13). Russia to cut dollar share in National Wealth Fund in favor of yuan & other currencies. rt.com Russia wants to reduce the US dollar share in its National Wealth Fund, as it looks to invest in the Chinese yuan and other foreign currencies, Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Kolychev has announced. | \"I can say with certainty that the share of the US dollar will be smaller,\" the official told reporters on Wednesday. \"Different currencies are being considered, all the reserve ones… including the yuan.\" | While the deputy minister did not elaborate on the exact amount of the dollar cut, he said that the National Wealth Fund\'s currency structure will be similar to that of the Russian central bank\'s reserves.

RT (2019-11-13). \'NATO will be soiling its pants\': Ukrainian tycoon seen as power behind president calls for \'new Warsaw Pact\' with Moscow. rt.com A tycoon who spent millions of dollars arming anti-Russian fighters in Ukraine has emerged from the shadows to blast the Europe he once idolized. The oligarch now sees alliance with Russia as the only option for his country. | Igor Kolomoysky, the oligarch seen by many as the shadow power behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has changed his tune sharply from the days of the 2014 Maidan rebellion. | Back then he was an ally of pro-European President Petro Poroshenko, who even appointed him governor of the Dnepropetrovsk region. Once installed there, Kolomoysky placed a bounty on captured fighters from…

RT (2019-11-13). Medvedev melts down as Nadal storms back to win ATP Finals clash. rt.com Daniil Medvedev suffered a third-set meltdown as he lost to Rafael Nadal at the ATP Finals in London, leaving the Russian staring at an early exit from the tournament. | Medvedev was leading 5-1 in the decisive third set and had match point but threw it away as Nadal rattled off five successive games to take the match into a tie-break, which he won to claim the contest 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). | The match was a re-run of the pair\'s epic US Open final which Nadal won, although in London both went into the meeting knowing it was likely make-or-break having lost their opening group encounters, with Nadal being…

RT (2019-11-13). \'We freed ourselves of IMF & had big plans on exports\': Exiled Bolivian president Morales blasts coup & hints at US role in it. rt.com Ousted Bolivian President Evo Morales has accused the US-headquartered Organization of American States of making a political decision in backing the right-wing opposition, saying the coup continues to wreak havoc after his exile. | Speaking from Mexico a day after he fled Bolivia, Morales said: \"The OAS is in the service of the North American empire.\" | Morales said he \"could not understand\" how his military commanders could show such \"disloyalty.\" | \"That confirms that my great crime is to be indigenous. It\'s a class problem,\" he said. | The exiled president said that after freeing itself from the Internatio…

RT (2019-11-13). \'Evo, I hope your exile is short\': Roger Waters sends message of support to Bolivia\'s Morales (VIDEO). rt.com Bolivian President Evo Morales was \"ripped away from his people by greed,\" former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters said in a message of support to the exiled leader, ousted in a coup and forced to seek asylum in Mexico. | \"Evo Morales, if you see this, more power to you. I hope your exile is short, your people need you. They need a leader like you,\" Waters said in the video posted online, adding that the socialist leader had done a \"great job\" as the country\'s first indigenous leader. | \"You\'ve pulled so many of your people out of poverty and gave them a sense of dignity,\" the rock \'n\' roll legend said. | Y…

RT (2019-11-13). Pyongyang warns of retaliation against S. Korea-US military drills. rt.com Pyongyang threatened on Wednesday to retaliate if the United States goes ahead with scheduled military drills with South Korea, ramping up pressure on Washington to change course as a year-end North Korean deadline for U.S. flexibility approaches. | North Korea\'s statement came even though Washington said last week that the joint aerial exercise planned for next month would be reduced in scope from previous drills, Reuters reports. | \"It is self-defense rights\" to retaliate against any move which threatens the country\'s sovereignty and security, according to a statement from North Korea\'s State Affairs Commiss…

RT (2019-11-13). Nothing to see here: Rivers along Korean border run red with blood after massive pig cull (PHOTOS). rt.com Heavy rainfall has been blamed for the spread of vast amounts of pig\'s blood into rivers along the Korean border this week, following a cull of some 47,000 hogs amid an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF). | A local NGO claims that blood from a nearby burial site, where some 47,000 pig carcasses had been disposed of, had seeped into the Imjin River due to heavy rainfall. South Korean authorities claim that the pigs had already been disinfected before being slaughtered and that there was a delay in the production of plastic containers for the carcasses. | | © Yeoncheon Imjin River Civic Network / AFP…

Hugh Handeyside (2019-11-13). Federal Court Rules That Border Officers Can\'t Arbitrarily Search Our Electronic Devices. aclu.org In a major victory for privacy rights, a federal court | has held that the federal government\'s suspicionless searches of smartphones, laptops, | and other electronic devices at airports or other U.S. ports of entry are | unconstitutional. The ruling in our | case is a recognition that the Constitution protects us even at the border, | and that traveling to or from the United States doesn\'t mean we give the g…

Staff (2019-11-13). The Bolivian Coup Comes Down to One Precious Mineral. truthdig.com Bolivia\'s President Evo Morales was overthrown in a military coup on November 10. He is now in Mexico. Before he left office, Morales had been involved in a long project to bring economic and social democracy to his long-exploited country. It is important to recall that Bolivia has suffered a series of coups, often conducted by the military and the oligarchy on behalf of transnational mining companies. Initially, these were tin firms, but tin is no longer the main target in Bolivia. The main target is its massive deposits of lithium, crucial for the electric car. | Over the past 13 years, Morales has tried to bui…

Staff (2019-11-13). Israel Intensifies Strikes as Rockets Rain Down on Gaza. truthdig.com The death toll rises to 26 in the second day of the heaviest round of fighting in months between Israel and the Islamic Jihad.

WSWS (2019-11-13). Arizona: Second trial begins of pro-immigrant \"No More Deaths\" volunteer. wsws.org The main accusation against Warren is that he provided two undocumented migrants with food, water and a place to sleep over three days.

Norman Solomon (2019-11-13). Biden and Bloomberg Want Uncle Sam to Defer to Uncle Scrooge. counterpunch.org The extremely rich Americans who are now frantically trying to figure out how to intervene in the Democratic presidential campaign make me wonder how different they are from the animated character who loved frolicking in money and kissing dollar bills while counting them. If Uncle Scrooge existed as a billionaire in human form today, it\'s easy to picture More

the gray zone (2019-11-13). Overthrown Honduran President Zelaya interviewed. indybay.org He discusses the extreme violence, drug trafficking, economic depression, migration crisis, Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH), WikiLeaks, Venezuela, and more. | Video by Ben Norton…

Peace Action of San Mateo County (2019-11-13). Questioning war within the military; resistance from Vietnam to Iraq. indybay.org Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo | 300 E. Santa Inez Avenue | San Mateo, CA 94401…

Jon Britton (2019-11-13). Letter-Writing Session for Leonard Peltier; Demand an End to the Elder Unit Lockdown! indybay.org San Jose Peace & Justice Center | 48 S Seventh St., San Jose, CA 95112…

United Nations (2019-11-13). \'No justification\' for attacks against civilians, UN envoy says on mounting cross-border violence in Gaza. un.org Following Israel\'s targeted killing of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader inside Gaza on Tuesday, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process has expressed his growing concern over increasing rocket fire across the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

United Nations (2019-11-13). Iraqis paying an \'unthinkable price\' to be heard, UN envoy tells politicians in Baghdad. un.org Noting that the people of Iraq were at \"a critical juncture\", the top UN Envoy in the country told parliamentarians there on Thursday that over the past six weeks, hundreds of thousands have been peacefully voicing their \"genuine, legitimate, demands, loud and clear\".

WSWS (2019-11-13). Hong Kong protests defy police violence and mass arrests. wsws.org Escalated police attacks appear to have reinforced the popular support for the protests, setting the stage for an even-more bloody confrontation.

Leonardo Flores (2019-11-13). How the OAS and US Just Helped Overthrow Another Government. commondreams.org A supporter of former President Evo Morales hands over an indigenous flags \"wiphala\" to an anti-riot police officer during a protest in La Paz, Bolivia, on November 12, 2019. Protesters have been in the streets calling for Morales' resignation. He stepped down after the army requested he leave his post and requested political asylum from Mexico. (Photo: Marcelo Perez Del Carpio/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/bolivia_coup_backed_by_us_oas.jpg …

Frederic Mousseau, Elena Teare (2019-11-13). Ukraine, the Land of Quid Pro Quos. commondreams.org A couple walks along a line of tractors blocking the parliament in Kiev on November 12, 2019, during a rally to protest against government plans to lift the moratorium on agricultural land sales, a step long awaited by investors but opposed by the Ukrainians fearing a foreign land grab. The former Soviet country, whose stalling economy has been propped up by Western aid in recent years, is home to some of the largest swathes of cultivated land in Europe. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage…

Dave Lindorff (2019-11-13). When an elected government falls in South America, as in Bolivia today, look for a US role. nationofchange.org History shows us that U.S. antipathy towards independent progressive leaders generally results in U.S.-sponsored subversion and military coups.

Ben Freeman, Ryan Summers (2019-11-13). Governments Abroad Are Shaping Our Foreign Policy in Broad Daylight. thenation.com Governments Abroad Are Shaping Our Foreign Policy in Broad Daylight…

teleSUR (2019-11-13). Trespassers Forcibly Enter Venezuelan Embassy in Brasilia. telesurenglish.net A group of trespassers forced their way into the Venezuelan Embassy in Brasilia on Wednesday, resulting in the brief disruption of diplomatic affairs. | RELATED: | Trump Threatens Venezuela And Nicaragua After Coup in Bolivia | The Deputy Minister for Europe of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela , Yván Gil, took to Twitter shortly after the incident to denounce the forcibly entry into the headquarters of the Venezuelan Embassy in Brazil by militants from the far-right…

teleSUR (2019-11-13). Bolsonaro Threatens Lula With Activating National Security Law. telesurenglish.net Brazil\'s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro decided to continue his campaign of aggression against the recently released Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and threatened Tuesday to use the National Security Law to repress possible demonstrations in favor of the former president. | RELATED: | Brazil: Lula Stands As Opposition To Bolsonaro, Right Wants Him Back In Jail | The law is designed to suppress \"insurrections,\" therefore, for Bolsonaro, any demonstration in favor of the ex-pr…

Terranium 117 (2019-11-13). From Where Rock Oil on Brazilian Beaches (Also Far to the USA?). indybay.org Places of beach oil pollutions in Brazil suggest that oil have come with the South-Equatorial Ocean Stream, even from region of the African Oil Shore. And it come from the lithospherical expansional rock cracks or widened mining drill slots. Big quantity of this sea oil may be here later the critical evidence of new phenomenon.